"How'd the girl do?" She's going back to state

EATON, Ohio – Before Sarah Willis gets back to the clubhouse, opponents seem to already know her score before she does.

She always hears the gossip, and her favorite comment, “How’d the girl do?”

It’s not always easy being a girl competing against the boys. But it’s not supposed to be easy.

Willis does it to make her the best golfer she can be.

After winning the Ohio Division II state championship, and setting a state record, Willis had lofty goals entering her senior year.

Earlier this season, she won the SWBL Southwestern Division boys league tournament, and this weekend, she returns to the Ohio State University Gray Course to defend her OHSAA Division II state championship.

“Just to qualify for state is awesome in itself, and of course I’d love to win again, and even break another record if I could,” Willis said.

“I’m just excited to get there, I try not to think about the outcome, too much, just so I can focus on the process, and getting there, just taking it shot by shot.”

Makenna Jones, a sophomore at National Trail, will also make a return trip, after finishing ninth as a freshman.

But Willis, who has verbally committed to play golf at Penn State, scorched the competition last year, shooting 68 on back-to-back days for a new Ohio state record of 136 at the Ohio State University Gray Course.

Eaton girls coach Tim Appledorn, says Eaton hasn’t had a complete girls golf team in about 20 years, so Willis has competed with the boys for the past four years, which helps her adjust to longer distances, and play tougher competition.

“They don’t really talk to you,” Willis said. “What I get out of competing with them is you have to stay focused on your short game, it doesn’t matter how hard you can hit it, that’s where the score really goes low, it’s whether or not you can make the putts or not.”

It’s helped make her a better golfer, but so has growing up in a family that loves the game.

Her older brother, Cameron won the boys state championship in 2012, and in 2015, won the SWBL tournament with Sarah finishing second.

“My dad, he’s played golf since he was a little kid, so he would just take Cam and I out on the range with him, and eventually we got bored of just sitting there watching him and we just picked up the golf ourselves,” Sarah said.

Cameron, now a sophomore at Wittenberg University, recently helped the Tigers win the NCAA Division III National tournament.

Meanwhile, Sarah has only gotten better.

This past offseason, she played in the United States Golf Association championship in St. Louis, and in the PGA National, where she made the cut.

She’s also won multiple tournaments during the high school season, including the SWBL boys tournament, where the Eagles finished second as a team.

“They always seem to know my score before I do, it seems to spread like wildfire, they gossip about me, it’s just hilarious to me.”

After the league tournament, Willis focuses on to the girls state tournament, and this year, she set the course and sectional record at Stillwater Valley Golf Club with a 69.

She followed that up with a 69 to tie the district record, and earn medalist honors at Pipestone Golf Club.

“My goals for her is just to play the best we can,” Appledorn said. “The game of golf is an individual sport, so as a coach, there’s not a whole lot that I can do, because I can’t hit the shots for her. But she’s worked hard, practicing, luckily enough the weather’s held out for her.”

Sarah placed 10th at the state finals as a freshman and didn't qualify as a sophomore.

While Appledorn says Eaton hasn’t had a full girls lineup in a long time, Sarah’s success is helping change that.

In the offseason, she helps out at Eaton golf camps, and Eaton had some newcomers to the girls program this year.

“It’s really cool, we actually had enough for a full team this year, they’re just starting so they want to take a year to just practice a lot,” Sarah said. “When they all came out, I was surprised, and I’m like, ‘Wow, it actually had an impact.’ They were following me.”